Library / English Dictionary

CHANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("chant" is a kind of...):

religious song (religious music for singing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chant"):

plainchant; plainsong ((Roman Catholic Church) a liturgical chant consisting of a single, unaccompanied melodic line)

cantus firmus (a pre-existing melody used as the basis for a polyphonic composition; originally drawn from plainchant, but later drawn from other sources)

Instance hyponyms:

Hallel ((Judaism) a chant of praise (Psalms 113 through 118) used at Passover and Shabuoth and Sukkoth and Hanukkah and Rosh Hodesh)

Hare Krishna (a chant to the Hindu god Krishna)

Derivation:

chant (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

chant (utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm

Example:

The rabbi chanted a prayer

Synonyms:

cantillate; chant; intonate; intone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "chant" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chant"):

singsong (speak, chant, or declaim in a singsong)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They will chant the duet

Derivation:

chant (a repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone)

chanter (reed pipe with finger holes on which the melody is played)

chanting (the act of singing in a monotonous tone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

Example:

The students chanted the same slogan over and over again

Synonyms:

chant; intone; tone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "chant" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue chant

Derivation:

chant (a repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"And it seems to me," Martin continued, "that knowledge of the land question, in turn, of all questions, for that matter, cannot be had without previous knowledge of the stuff and the constitution of life. How can we understand laws and institutions, religions and customs, without understanding, not merely the nature of the creatures that made them, but the nature of the stuff out of which the creatures are made? Is literature less human than the architecture and sculpture of Egypt? Is there one thing in the known universe that is not subject to the law of evolution? Oh, I know there is an elaborate evolution of the various arts laid down, but it seems to me to be too mechanical. The human himself is left out. The evolution of the tool, of the harp, of music and song and dance, are all beautifully elaborated; but how about the evolution of the human himself, the development of the basic and intrinsic parts that were in him before he made his first tool or gibbered his first chant? It is that which you do not consider, and which I call biology. It is biology in its largest aspects.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A chanting cherub adorned the cover of the sugar bucket, and attempts to portray Romeo and Juliet supplied kindling for some time.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Three times we have had to draw, and once at La Reolle we stood over our wool-bales, Watkin and I, and we laid about us for as long as a man might chant a litany, slaying one rogue and wounding two others.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The pages of his mind were blank, and, without effort, much he read and liked, stanza by stanza, was impressed upon those pages, so that he was soon able to extract great joy from chanting aloud or under his breath the music and the beauty of the printed words he had read.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Another chant from Hagar produced another apparition, not a lovely one, for with a bang an ugly black imp appeared and, having croaked a reply, tossed a dark bottle at Hugo and disappeared with a mocking laugh.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As they came up to them, Alleyne could hear the doleful dirge which the beater was chanting, bringing down his heavy whip at the end of each line, while the groans of the sufferer formed a sort of dismal chorus.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was appalled by the vastness of the beauty that rightfully belonged in it, and again his mind flashed and dared, and he demanded of himself why he could not chant that beauty in noble verse as the great poets did.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

While Laurie listlessly watched the procession of priests under their canopies, white-veiled nuns bearing lighted tapers, and some brotherhood in blue chanting as they walked, Amy watched him, and felt a new sort of shyness steal over her, for he was changed, and she could not find the merry-faced boy she left in the moody-looking man beside her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The hulk of an ancient wreck burned with blue fires, in the light of which danced the hula dancers to the barbaric love- calls of the singers, who chanted to tinkling ukuleles and rumbling tom- toms.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)